Air Board to Fight Bills Curbing Power

Angry smog officials vowed Friday to fight state legislation that seeks to repeal a major new rule cutting vehicle emissions and strip the South Coast Air Quality Management District of much of its authority over cleaning up the region’s air.

AQMD Chairman Jon Mikels, a San Bernardino County supervisor, called the five Senate bills “state legislative imperialism” and “a direct attack on local government.”

Mikels was among several Republicans on the board who joined Democrats in denouncing the proposals of two Orange County Republican legislators as a move to dismantle the regional smog board.

AQMD board member Roy Wilson, a Riverside County supervisor, called it a threat to public health and a vindictive move.

The bills, authored by Sens. John R. Lewis and Rob Hurtt, would require legislative approval of all AQMD expenditures, overhaul the board’s makeup and prohibit smog measures that target indirect sources, such as efforts to get employers to reduce miles driven on Southland roads.

“By curbing their regulatory and budgetary authority, as well as changing the composition of the board, we can help put a stop to the onerous regulations,” Lewis said in a statement.

However, representatives of two influential industry groups told the AQMD board Friday that they opposed the bills restricting the board’s powers and pledged to help defeat them.

“This would open the door to the kind of demagoguery we don’t need,” said Curtis Coleman, an attorney for the California Manufacturers Assn.’s committee on air issues.

AQMD officials said the move to repeal a major new rule enacted last December would force them to take a large step backward in cleaning up smog.

Under the rule, employers in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties with more than 100 workers must pay into a fund for projects that reduce vehicle emissions or take other steps to cut car and truck exhaust.

Last year, the Legislature ordered the AQMD to abandon its unpopular, 8-year-old mandatory ride share rule, but the board immediately replaced it with the new one. That angered Hurtt and Lewis, who say the board circumvented the Legislature’s intent.

The AQMD board convened its first emergency session in 10 years to take a stance on the bills, which are awaiting action.

Three board members who support the legislation did not attend the meeting, leaving the vote 9 to 0. Those absent were Orange County attorney Hugh Hewitt, Los Angeles County Supervisor Mike Antonovich and Orange County Supervisor James Silva.

Silva said he had a prior county commitment. But Antonovich aide Peter Whittingham said all three boycotted the meeting to make a point. Antonovich, he said, “did not want to support the efforts of certain members of district staff and the board who are seeking mainly to preserve the status quo.”

Hewitt, who told The Times he hadn’t received a notice of the meeting, criticized the board for “going out of their way to antagonize further the Legislature.”

Mee Hae Lee, who represents the Democrat-majority Senate Rules Committee on the AQMD, called the three members cowards for failing to vote in public. “They can’t even show up to face it,” she said.